Don't Try This At Home

Alright, it's been awhile. I do have stuff to post...but I'm too lazy to get the pictures off my phone and onto the computer. I recently finished sewing a pair of skinny jeans in my clothing class and I have to say I'm quite disappointed in myself. The jeans turned out alright, but there are plenty of little mistakes that you can see if you look at them up close (and know how to sew). While jeans aren't hard to make from a technical point of view, there are so many little details and I got bored of them....hence the lazy sewing and many mistakes. I do love the embroidery on the back pockets though, courtesy of the embroidery machine, which I someday hope to own, but they're expensive. These jeans took me...I'm going to say a little over a month. Now if you made these at home it would be quicker, but I'm only working on these 5 days a week for 45 minutes a day. I don't think I'll ever make jeans again....or pants for that matter. I'm just not a pants person. I would not recommend jeans for beginners unless you honestly have a passion for pants.

Surprise I'm Asian!

This top was my first project as an Independent Study student!!! Basically, you take Clothing I and II at my high school, then you're in Clothing III and IV, also known as "Independent Study." You make what you want instead following a guideline, so if I wanted to make a catsuit...I could...but I won't.

Anyways, this top took me about a month to make. It was my first time working with brocade fabric, which frays like crazy by the way. I decided not to put on loops and just sewed on shank buttons instead, which I think looks a lot better. I'm so proud of this top! It fits me pretty well.

People who saw me wearing it were like "Dude, my mom has one of those. Are you into Asian culture or something?" And then I answered "I'm half Chinese" and their jaw dropped straight through the floor. Hahahahahaha. I look pretty white, but yes, I am Asian.

FABRIC FABRIC FABRIC and CARDIGAN

I'm sorry! I know it's been ages...but I've been having technical difficulties in getting these pictures my computer and then finally onto this blog. At the beginning of the month, my clothing class took a field trip to Vogue Fabics in Evanston. There I found a beautiful purple knit for my prom dress and some lovely knit/lace fabric that I will make something out of. What I don't know yet. I'm thinking a top or perhaps a dress. I just saw the fabric and it was too beautiful to resist, it almost looks like snakeskin from far away. I also took an old cardigan from the gap (kids size XL, I'm still that tiny) and made the sleeves 3/4 length. Since I don't have a serger, I just overcast the edges and it gave them a nice scalloped effect that I rather like. I'll handwash it so it doesn't ravel. I'll try to update more often! Thanks for reading! (Purple fabric is for prom dress, brown/lacy fabric is for something else, pattern for prom dress is also included.)

I've Recently Fallen in Love....

....with this dress. It's from http://www.poshgirlvintage.com/, which you must check out immediately. I love vintage clothing from the 40's and 50's, I like the elegance that clothes have. This dress has one of my favorite silhouettes of all time, sweetheart neckline, fitted at the waist and then gracefully flowing over the hips. Perfection.

I'm also in love with Carrie Bradshaw's tutu from the opening credits of 'Sex and the City.' I want a tutu like that! I loved taking ballet as a little girl....again, the elegance of it drew me in.

I'm sort of a paradox I suppose. I love old school preppie clothes or elegant gowns, but then I also love crazy and colorful clothes.

Oh, and in case you haven't already been drooling over Alexander Wang, DVF and Marc Jacobs, go ahead and do so. I was on MSN watching clips and looking at pictures from their runway shows and everything was brilliant! Those three are always some of my favorite designers.

Oh, and speaking of brilliance, Christian Siriano now has shoes for Payless! I especially love the booties.

Cats or Owls?

I made this dress last year while I was at home recovering from surgery....I was bored out of my mind! This dress was actually quite simple to make. All I did was take a big piece of knit fabric, line it with plain white knit fabric, cut the top so it was an inch smaller than my bust and made the bottom an inch smaller than my hips. Then I sewed it up, like a tube, so that there's one side seam and made a few adjustments. Everyone always argues about this dress though, some people think there are cats on the dress, other people say it's owls. So, cats or owls?

I made the vest this year using a Simplicity pattern. It's a very simple vest, I didn't bother adding any little pocket flaps or embellishments. I just needed a plain vest to help jazz up some other outfits. In case you haven't already noticed, I tend to like either really edgy clothes or class old-school preppy clothes.

The key I'm wearing was found at the Antique Mall. If you haven't been, I suggest you go immediately. It's in the little strip mall area right by Fox Valley Mall (Or westfield...whatever it's called nowadays).

Lily Cole

The first time I saw Lily Cole was in a TeenVogue spread of her and Marilyn Manson. I fell in love with her red hair and perfect features, she's like a beautiful porcelain doll. She instantly became one of my favorite models for her good looks, brains, and modeling ability. (Ok, and also for being British). As you can see from the many pictures, she is able to do many different looks. In 2007-2008 she studied at Cambridge, proving that models aren't just a pretty face. She has also stood up for the environment by refusing to appear in any De Beer's diamonds campaigns because the company supposedly creates toxic waste through their mining. She also supports WaterAid, which aims to provide safe, clean water (Rose's 2nd period AP Euro nerds will know all about WaterAid thanks to the brilliance of Moriana, Annie and Laura). Anyways, I just love her, so I thought I'd blog about her.

*Note- picture from Marilyn Manson is from TeenVogue spread. All other pictures found randomly on web.

I <3 Eyelet

Both the dress and top are made from eyelet fabric from JoAnn's. For those of you who don't know, eyelet fabric is fabric with small holes (that are finished and won't fray) and usually has a flower-y design. The top was made from scratch with less than a yard of fabric, and the green dress is made from a free pattern I found at Burdastyle.com (I think). The green dress is actually the same pattern as my World Market dress, just done in different fabrics.

Oh, and the hem on the green dress isn't uneven, it's just a little bunched up at one side...and I was standing awkwardly....